User blog:John Pan/A-27 Tornado
A-27 Tornado The flying Avenger, back in a good-looking, supersonic form. Empty Weight: 29,000kg Loaded Weight: 40,000kg Maximum Takeoff Weight: 55,000kg Crew Composition *Pilot Sensory The A-27 carries a small mechanically-aimed PESA. A powerful wide-angle FLIR array is standard. In addition, it also carries an ALQ-41 DAS for improved IR detection—it can detect the muzzle flash of a tank over 50 kilometers away. A GPS Blue-force-tracker is standard. Upgrades LADAR For even higher-resolution air-to-ground detection, a forward-looking LADAR can be mounted upon the aircraft. Using the ultraviolet spectrum instead of radio waves, LADARs are far more precise. However, they're hampered by bad weather. Armament GAU-8/A (1) The time-honored Avenger is a massive 30mm 7-barrel Gatling that can shred armored vehicles—not to mention infantry—from above. The gun fires at 3,900rpm, draws from a 1000-round drum magazine. Fed with 1-in-3 APFSDS-T DU-core rounds, it can shoot straight through ten centimeters of RHA; with HEPF rounds, it's kill radius is well over three meters. Advanced recoil stabilizers and titanium airframe mounts stops the plane from falling apart when this beast is firing. The gun is hidden behind a shutter door when it's not in use. AIM-9Z (2) The Evolved Sidewinder is the latest model in the long-running Sidewinder family. With a Box-Office vector thruster, ultra-sensitive “smart” IR seeker, a robust slow-burning rocket, and insensitive 25lb directed shrapnel warhead, the AIM-9Z is the most lethal in history, able to hit a target within 40km at a top speed of Mach 4. 60-G maneuvers are commonly part of this missile's routine. It can even target incoming missiles. One is carried in each side weapons bay. Close Air Support Package To be used with the GAU-8/A. GBU-39 (24) The GBU-39, also known as the Small-Diameter-Bomb, are small GPS-guided general-purpose bombs. Delivered from GAU-8/A strafing altitude they are already incredibly accurate; with GPS guidance a skilled A-27 pilot can literally deliver one through a window. For eradicating masses of enemy forces, and of course, tank plinking. Tankbuster Package To blow up tanks in support of friendlies at very long range. AGM-65X (8) The Longhorn is the latest iteration of the air-to-surface guided missile. Taking in design innovations from the Maverick and air-launched cruise missiles like the Storm Shadow, the AGM-65X is equipped with a stealth-treated (shaped to reduce its RCS) hardened steel case on the outside. Inside this protective skin, the AGM-65X squeezes an active-millimeter seeker, a GPS module, an ECCM suite, a 65kg tandem HEAT warhead, JP-8, and a turbojet motor. This combination allows it to tear through 3000mm of RHA—fired from 100km away. The Tornado carries eight of them in two-by-two stacks in its massive weapons bay. Upgrades BGM-120 JSM (15) The problem with big, fat, slow, powerful missiles is that a tank prioritizes it. And thanks to ever-improving hardkill ECM, they get shot out of the air. Problem solved. The next generation of anti-tank guided missiles, the JSM packs in a slow-burning smokeless rocket motor, a powerful 8kg tandem-HEAT warhead, an ECCM-assisted dual-mode laser/active millimeter seeker suite, a GPS to assist in precision, and last but not least, a hardened steel skin that allows it to shrug off shrapnel from HEPF shells trying to blow it out of the air. The missile has the ability to engage an enemy target 20km away, hitting Mach 1 as it dives down on its target. The A-27 carries 15 of them, mounted in staggered 5-missile racks. Replaces the AGM-65Xs. Protection Designed to attract a ton of ground fire, the A-27 gets a titanium bathtub for the pilot. It's skin is designed to be modular, allowing it to be attached and replaced in individual tiles. The A-27 gets honeycomb carbon composites with titanium and Kevlar inserts. This allows it to shrug off 25mm APFSDS autocannon fire. However, the canopy is only rated against 14.5mm x 114mm AP-I. In terms of stealth, the A-27 has a slightly larger RCS than an F-35, but that's acceptable due to it hugging the ground as it flies. Countermeasures in the A-27 consist of ECM suites, DRFM jammers, laser dazzlers, and twice the normal amount of chaff and flares. Upgrades Supramolecular Skin Tiles An expensive yet very effective upgrade, using supramolecular (self-healing) polymer instead of the carbon composites in the armored skin of the A-27. This allows it to maintain its aerodynamics and stealth, even after taking autocannon fire. No more pictures of it returning home with tons of cannon craters—they would have already been fixed as the plane was in the air. Mobility The A-27 shares its powerplants with the F-35D, F135-800 engines—two of them. However, they have better turbine blades for low-altitude performance. They give it a combined 400,000 Newtons of thrust in afterburner, giving it a top speed of Mach 1.8. With a large fuel capacity, the Tornado has a viable combat radius of over 2500km.The plane's reverse-geometry wings allow it to have incredible levels of stability when taking off, diving, or landing. Plus, it can even supercruise at Mach 1.1 for 2000km. The A-27 is fully capable of operating on CATOBAR carriers. Upgrades None. Category:Blog posts